genericname
New Member
For years we've just been stockpiling waste solvent, and we've finally reached the point where I simply can not fill another container. The stuff has to go. Trouble is, where, and through who?
And no, I am not pouring it into kitty litter and throwing it away. You should all know I'm far too much of a hippie to do that, so no sense in trying to convince me. I'm trying to find a reputable company or organization that will take this stuff off of our hands, and process with as minimal a fee as possible. I also need to make this look appealing and easy to the higher ups for it to get done fast.
Aaanyway, this wouldn't be a problem were we in BC, or the 'States. Ontario though, is an old man, bound in red tape, weighted by a million different organizations and jurisdictions, drowning in a river of progress, while shaking his fist at the guy with the rope.
Searches for disposal and recycling companies mainly bring up results from the U.S. Other areas are represented, and I even found a depot not far from here, but they don't actually service this city. Ottawa's waste management site is a useless mess, so I have to do all my own research.
Doing a search for solvent disposal policies, I immediately come across documentation outlying BC's policies and practices. Okay, so I decide to scour the websites of Ontario's Ministry of Industry, and Ministry of Environment. About an hour later, I find a vaaaague reference to Stewardship Ontario as the organization charged with overseeing recycling and processing of commercial and industrial wastes. Checking out their site, they have only information for "Stewards", the companies that, far as I can understand, sign up to deal with these things. They state in numerous areas that they're trying to educate the public, but nowhere have they made a direct call to action, or provided information that would actually help the public get involved.
Another hour passes, and I've found everything from the chemical composition of all substances that the program oversees, to the amount per litre of liquid waste that Stewards have to pay out to the Stewardship Ontario just for processing the stuff. This program makes no damn sense.
Oh! Half an hour later, and in a press-release, I find a reference to "The Orange Drop" program, which has been renewed, and charged with managing "all operations related to the collecting, transporting, processing, recycling or safe disposal of Municipal Hazardous and Special Waste (MHSW) products and materials". Cool! Let's check out this Orange Drop program! Oh, no results? No reference to it anywhere else on the site? Not even a link?
Off to Google again! First result brings me to the actual Orange Drop program's website, though the Google synopsis makes it look like a composting program. They have a search feature, and HUZZAH! Two results in my area(ish), both of them about an hour away. Well, it's a start. First one only accepts household waste, despite the implication made by its listing on the Orange Drop website. The second one accepts pretty much everything, but whadya know, MHSW disposal is "closed for the season". What the hell?
Bloody province.
I am as serious about waste management and environmental responsibility as a person in this industry can get. Were I born sixty years ago, I'd be wearing Birkenstocks and glasses with red, circular lenses. I firmly believe that I have a responsibility to do my best, even it's a losing battle, to keep the earth, air, and water clean, because my children and their children will otherwise be living in a completely toxic environment. I am the new kind of hippie that sees profitability and responsibility firmly bonded to eachother, and how communications based technologies can only make all of this easier, and I am nearly ready to give up. What the hell do our governments and organizations expect most other people to do?
And no, I am not pouring it into kitty litter and throwing it away. You should all know I'm far too much of a hippie to do that, so no sense in trying to convince me. I'm trying to find a reputable company or organization that will take this stuff off of our hands, and process with as minimal a fee as possible. I also need to make this look appealing and easy to the higher ups for it to get done fast.
Aaanyway, this wouldn't be a problem were we in BC, or the 'States. Ontario though, is an old man, bound in red tape, weighted by a million different organizations and jurisdictions, drowning in a river of progress, while shaking his fist at the guy with the rope.
Searches for disposal and recycling companies mainly bring up results from the U.S. Other areas are represented, and I even found a depot not far from here, but they don't actually service this city. Ottawa's waste management site is a useless mess, so I have to do all my own research.
Doing a search for solvent disposal policies, I immediately come across documentation outlying BC's policies and practices. Okay, so I decide to scour the websites of Ontario's Ministry of Industry, and Ministry of Environment. About an hour later, I find a vaaaague reference to Stewardship Ontario as the organization charged with overseeing recycling and processing of commercial and industrial wastes. Checking out their site, they have only information for "Stewards", the companies that, far as I can understand, sign up to deal with these things. They state in numerous areas that they're trying to educate the public, but nowhere have they made a direct call to action, or provided information that would actually help the public get involved.
Another hour passes, and I've found everything from the chemical composition of all substances that the program oversees, to the amount per litre of liquid waste that Stewards have to pay out to the Stewardship Ontario just for processing the stuff. This program makes no damn sense.
Oh! Half an hour later, and in a press-release, I find a reference to "The Orange Drop" program, which has been renewed, and charged with managing "all operations related to the collecting, transporting, processing, recycling or safe disposal of Municipal Hazardous and Special Waste (MHSW) products and materials". Cool! Let's check out this Orange Drop program! Oh, no results? No reference to it anywhere else on the site? Not even a link?
Off to Google again! First result brings me to the actual Orange Drop program's website, though the Google synopsis makes it look like a composting program. They have a search feature, and HUZZAH! Two results in my area(ish), both of them about an hour away. Well, it's a start. First one only accepts household waste, despite the implication made by its listing on the Orange Drop website. The second one accepts pretty much everything, but whadya know, MHSW disposal is "closed for the season". What the hell?
Bloody province.
I am as serious about waste management and environmental responsibility as a person in this industry can get. Were I born sixty years ago, I'd be wearing Birkenstocks and glasses with red, circular lenses. I firmly believe that I have a responsibility to do my best, even it's a losing battle, to keep the earth, air, and water clean, because my children and their children will otherwise be living in a completely toxic environment. I am the new kind of hippie that sees profitability and responsibility firmly bonded to eachother, and how communications based technologies can only make all of this easier, and I am nearly ready to give up. What the hell do our governments and organizations expect most other people to do?